A key role for followers is to collaborate with leaders in achieving organizational goals, as reflected in the emphasis on collaborative leadership. The post-bureaucratic organization (a type of organization that came after the bureaucratic era, such as team-based organizations) requires a new kind of alliance between leaders and the led. When high-level leaders do not make all of the decisions but solicit input from knowledgeable group members, leaders and followers work together more closely.

A related point here is that the new leader and the led are close allies. Great leaders are made by great groups; every organizational member needs to contribute energy and talent to help leaders carry out their roles successfully. In the modern organization, leaders and followers often switch roles, such as a group member being assigned leadership responsibility for a group task.